Top 25 ’80s Songs

As much as I like to malign the 1980s, it is a decade rich with pop culture and — admittedly — music that’s not too shabby.

In this two-part Top 25, I cover my favourite songs and movies from my first complete decade of life. I’ll start with the music.

The 1980s was the decade of shoulder pads, teased hair, caked-on makeup, neon colours and parachute pants. It was also where I I lived like George Thoroughgood’s “Bad to the Bone”.

Thank God the ’80s came and went, but the music and movies stay with us. I recall summer days in Mississauga, when we lived in a stacked townhouse, listening to 1050 Chum, a station that was programmed to play Top 40 of that time. This was probably 1984.

As you can probably imagine, Toto’s “Africa” and Olivia Newton John’s “Physical” were common tunes, as was The Eurythmics’ “Here Comes The Rain Again” and Juice Newton’s “Playing With the Queen of Hearts”.

There are so many more songs I could have added to this list, including Thoroughgood, Bruce Hornsby, Styx, Peter Gabriel, Lionel Richie, Gloria Estefan, Kate Bush, Madonna, Queen, INXS, Stevie Wonder, the Clash, the Cars, the Police, the Tragically Hip and Chaka Khan.

Ah, but you can’t have them all (or perhaps I can add another The Next 25?). So, here are my Top 25 tunes from a decade I am incredibly ambivalent too.